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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Circulation figures for the last six months of 2008 have just been released by ABC, so here's our bi-annual round-up. (See here for the August 2008 round-up.)

PRE-SCHOOL MAGAZINES

Since I began charting the circulations of children's comics here on Bear Alley, BBC Worldwide have always managed to top the pre-school charts, with Toybox in 2007 and In the Night Garden in 2007-08. Although both titles got off to a very good start—ten years ago, Toybox sold over 200,000 copies per issue—both titles have had a disastrous year. The new figures for July to December 2008 show that In the Night Garden shed 26,286, a fall of 25% of its circulation since the previous half-year figures, and a total of 30% year-on-year (y/y). The first drop I put down to the initial sales settling, but this latest fall seems purely down to the comic itself. The TV show the comic is based on was returned to the popular "Bedtime Hour" slot in August 2008 and one might have expected a rise in circulation given its prominence in the schedule (CBeebies highest viewing figures are from 5.30-7.00pm). However, with only 80 shows to offer perhaps boredom has set in with the target audience—the show did not manage a single entry in the Top 10 viewing figures for the channel in the week a series of 20 new episodes began broadcasting.

Toybox has also suffered a further massive fall in sales, down by 24,861—a third of its circulation—adding to the woes of the previous half-yearly figures, combining to make a 41.4% y/y loss of sales. Another BBC Worldwide title, Bob the Builder, also saw losses of 13,918 sales, a quarter of its circulation. A fourth title, Balamory, would appear to be on its last legs, shedding a fifth of its circulation (6,000 copies), a total loss of 37.6% of sales y/y. Teletubbies lost a quarter of its circulation and is down 31% y/y. Tweenies, which was selling 60,000 five years ago and 180,000 a few years before that, was cancelled.

Two other sharp declines, CBeebies Animals (down 17,094) and Lazy Town (down 12,294) may be put down to the figures settling as both titles were launched within the past 18 months. Egmont's Noddy Magazine could be for the chop if sales continue to decline, down by a quarter this half-year and 39% y/y.

A couple of titles have bucked the trend: Egmont's Disney and Me and Disney Fairies both made gains, the former up nearly 10,000 copies per issue and the latter regaining most of the ground it lost in the last half-yearly figures—perhaps benefiting from Disney's strong promotion of Tinkerbell as a brand.

COMICS / MAGAZINES

The good news for Disney continues thanks to Disney High School Musical magazine, now outselling its nearest rival in this section by 36,000 and, rather than settling down has actually settled up by a few percent. The release of the third HSM movie probably helped.

The credit crunch seems not to have hit this section of the market too badly, although sales are following the general downward trend with most titles shedding a few thousand copies per issue. We may see some rather more dramatic downturns in August when the figures for the first half for 2009 appear.

However, some titles may not make it that far before cancellation. Both Transformers Comic (Titan) and Amy Magazine (BBC Worldwide) have had dramatic losses, of 14,116 and 10,013 respectively. Transformers is down 45.4% y/y and Amy is down 33.6% y/y. Other poor performers in 2008 included Bratz (down 27.8% y/y), Scooby Doo (down 24.9% y/y) and Spongebob Squarepants (down 23.2% y/y).

The biggest loss of all has been suffered by Doctor Who Adventures, which shed 11,586, bringing the yearly total losses to 72,784 per issue, a drop of 47% y/y. The sales are still in the region of 82,000, so it's unlikely that the magazine will be folding any time soon, but the irregular appearance of its parent TV show (only four specials will be broadcast this year, followed by a new series in 2010) can't be helping matters.

Good news for The Dandy: after years of falling sales, it managed to add around 3,000 per issue this past six months. That's still down from this time last year, but vital if Dandy is to survive to see its 75th birthday in 2012. Not such good news for BeanoMax which is down 19.4% y/y.

The Chart

Please note that the chart only covers titles where circulation figures are available and there are a number of comics and children's magazines on the newsagents shelves which do not make the list. Panini UK, for instance, publish 21 children's titles of which only a handful have audited circulations.

Monday, February 23, 2009

It seems to be that things that were meant satirically or critically in Watchmen now seem to be simply accepted as kind of what they appear to be on the surface. So yeah, I'm pretty jaundiced about the entire "caped crusader" concept at the moment.—Alan Moore.

Interviews

Wired magazine has posted long inteviews with Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore in the run-up to the release of the Watchmen movie.

"Filming the Unfilmable: Behind the Scenes of the Watchmen movie" by Adam Rogers (Wired, 23 February)

"Watchmen: First UK review" by Michael Moran (Times Online, 23 February)—"If you’re looking for a spoiler-free appraisal of how good this film is here goes: It’s terrific. It’s the first superhero movie aimed directed unambiguously at adults, with better effects than Iron Man and fewer plot holes than Dark Knight. As long as you’re old enough, see it. You won’t be sorry."

"Watchmen transforms from comic into film" by Kevin Maher (The Times, 24 February)—"As the first attempt to make a truly post-adolescent comic book movie, Watchmen is, literally, peerless."

"Clint Watches the Watchmen" by Clint Morris (Moviehole, 23 February)—"Part detective story, Part Superhero adventure, and Part Portrait of the Imperfect Human, Watchmen is a must-see movie."

"Watchment AU Review" by Patrick Kolan (ign.com movies, 23 February)—"Turns out, it wasn't impossible to do Watchmen justice on-screen—it just took a long time, many different points of view, scripts drafted and deals done and dusted. Moore's 338 pages have been condensed into 150-odd minutes of the finest super-hero movie ever made, hands down."

"Who Watches the Watchmen? If You're Smart, not you" by Robbie Collin (News of the World, 24 February)—"It’s hard to tell who'll be most disappointed by this mess." First really negative review I've found.

"Who's Watching the Watchmen?" by Mike Ragongna (Huffington Post, 20 February)—"On every level, it will demand your attention and intelligence as it entertains; it's sophisticated and sensationally sophomoric; and for those just watching Watchmen for the Watchmen without any expectations or knowledge of the comic's storyline or historical importance, this really will be a blast."

"My Own Private Watchmen" by Matt Selman (Time, 16 February)—"Is Watchmen even a good or bad movie?I have no idea.I stand powerless before the Gods I once worshiped in my attic bedroom, now moving and talking and fighting and loving on a giant screen.And I find myself unable to judge them."

"Watchmen Review" by Michael Leader (Den of Geek, 24 February)—"What we have been given is presented almost entirely faithfully, with enough tricks and style of its own to warrant a viewing. It is hard to imagine a better screen representation of this 'unfilmable' graphic novel."

Jonathan Ross on Twitter (via RWD, 24 February)—"It was probably the most faithful adaptation of a comic to the big screen. Ending changed very much for the better. Great sets, costumes, special effects—Rorshach especially good. Downside—too long, too reverential, lacks pace and feels a little dull at times. In short—I love it and at same time am unimpressed!"

"Watchmen Gets Sentimental on Screen" by Charlotte O'Sullivan (Evening Standard, 24 February)—"There are plenty of good reasons to watch Watchmen. Ultimately, though, it’s a movie about cynicism that is full of cynical moves; nastier than the book, yet more sentimental, too."

"Watchmen" by Ian Nathan (Empire, 24 February)—"Okay, it isn’t the graphic novel, but Zack Snyder clearly gives a toss, creating a smart, stylish, decent adaptation, if low on accessibility for the non-convert."

"Review: Watchmen" by Devin Faraci (CHUD, 24 February)—"A huge budgeted superhero movie that delivers intellectually? That takes serious, ballsy chances with the form? That isn't giving audience what they expect, and is possibly not giving them what they want? Why, that sounds like a piece of art. A glorious, epic, exciting, mind blowing piece of art."

"Watchmen Film Review" by Rohan Williams (Comic Book Resources, 25 February)—"For over 20 years, a successful adaptation of ‘Watchmen’ has been Hollywood’s Gordian Knot. I can only admire Synder and co. for doing their best to cut it, but ultimately, they leave it slightly frayed at best."

"Watchmen - Film Review" by Todd Gilchrist (h monthly, 25 February)—"It defines the difference between a movie and a film: not merely entertainment, but the articulation of real concepts and ideas, which are effective in their exploration, even if in some cases it’s to the exclusion of more immediate gratification."

"'Watchmen' film cert reduced to 16" by Michael Dwyer (Irish Times, 25 February)—"IRISH CINEMAGOERS aged 16 and over may see the violent new US action film Watchmen following a decision by the Film Appeals Board. John Kelleher, director of the Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco), had given the film an 18 certificate—in tandem with a similar classification in the UK."

While the theatrical version of Watchmen clocks in at 163 minutes, a 190-minute 'Director's Cut' is already set to debut in June which will be available on DVD in July. The longer version is "considerably more violent" than the theatrical version; this may also be the version that will intercut the 'Black Freighter' material that director Zack Snyder has mentioned in interviews.

"The Watchmen Merchandise Cometh" by Sacha Howells (film.com, 25 February)--"What happens when you leave decisions up to the merchandisers? The Rorschach desk blotter." Or, indeed, the Rorschach lunchbox...

I'm expecting a lot more Watchmen interviews and reviews to pop up in the wake of the Odeon Leicester Square premiere so I'll update as regularly as I can until Wednesday night... after that I'll switch back to covering stories in the Rolling News column.

Watchmen has sold around 750,000 copies since it was first published in 1986. Following its appearance in Time magazine's Top 100 English Novels since 1923 and the release of the Watchmen movie trailer, it has been racking up sales at an astonishing rate these past few months. It was the highest-selling graphic novel in the USA in 2008 and DC—Brian Hibbs revealing recently that Bookscan figures put the 2008 US sales at 308,396 copies (and that's probably a low figure as Bookscan does not cover all outlets).

If you've never read the book, now's your chance—you won't be disappointed. Here's a quick rundown and Amazon links to various editions of the original graphic novel and a number of movie tie-in books, plus the first of what will probably be a ton of academic studies of the series.

A live Watchmen chat with Dave Gibbons and film director Zack Snyder took place today at 4 pm. Not surprisingly, you can now find it on You Tube. It's not your typical Q&A: this was a virtual chat for the Playstation Home online community, so rather than seeing the participants, you'll be watching avatars... and it's not exactly visually gripping but there are some interesting comments from Dave regarding previous potential versions of the movie and the fact that "If you can draw a hat, you can draw Rorschach".

The You Tube videos of the broadcast are split into four sections. Part 2:

Not exactly twitter—believe me, you'd be bored to tears if you followed my day minute-by-minute—but here's a bit of me news: I've been spreading myself thin over a number of books so Bear Alley was a little patchy last week and things may continue that way for a little while. I'm pleased to say that I'm still managing to post things as I stumble on them but posts may be a bit hit and miss while my attention's elsewhere.

I've pretty much completed work on a book that will zip up all of Frank Bellamy's work for Swift comic into one volume, which will include his work on "The Fleet Family" and "Paul English", along with some new introductory material. There's a second, related Bellamy project in the works which I'll have to skip over just now. Don't want to jinx it!

The other book is the Art of Ron Embleton book that was first mentioned way, way back. The first big chunk of research has been done on this—checklisting all of Ron's astonishing work for Look and Learn and tieing that list in with what original artwork we know to have survived so we can get the best-looking book possible. There's still a long way to go on this one but I'm hoping to knuckle down to work on it from next week once the Musketeers intro is out of the way.

That little lot hasn't left much time for anything else, but I did take some time off to read the latest issue of Paperback Fanatic (#9, February 2009), which is a must-read for anyone who collects old paperbacks. Editor Justin Marriott concentrates on the 1970s/1980s boom period when genre fiction spilled off the shelves and paperback originals could still become million-sellers. I'm especially fond of this period—it was the era I grew up in and one I explored a little in the pages of PBO, a fanzine I put out many years ago.

This issue takes a look at the Skinhead novels of Richard Allen (James Moffatt), the sexy spy capers of The Man from O.R.G.Y., the Specialist horror yarns of Errol Lecale (Wilfred McNeilly) and the artwork of Dick Clifton-Dey, plus interviews with Peter Berresford Ellis and Chris Lowder. It's a solid line-up, crammed into 44 pages behind a superb collage of Clifton-Day artwork. The next number also promises to be a packed issue and #11 should include my interview with Peter Leslie (conducted way back in 1996), so there are plenty of goodies still to come.

Talking of fanzines, there are a couple of titles upcoming that will be worth looking out for. The 2000AD fanzine Zarjaz will be publishing a Pat Mills Special in May (issue #7). You can find out more about the issue, plus information about the companion title Dogbreath, at the Quaequam Blog, which also includes a mini-interview with Pat.

And the next issue of Crikey! is due to appear in early March, featuring interviews with Enrique Badia Romero, David Lloyd and... Pat Mills (always a good man to interview), plus articles on Top Secret Picture Library, Walt Howarth and the British Marvel.

Last item for now: the next National Collectors Marketplace and London ABC Show will be held at The Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, Russell Square, London, on 15th March. Free admission and a chance to while away a few hours chatting to fellow collectors and banish those economic downturn blues with some retail therapy. See here for a location map.

Marcus Hearn has forwarded the cover design for the second volume of the Century 21 comic reprint volumes on sale from 31 March. The two books will be available in paperback are already listed on advance order from Amazon:

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Savile Lumley is a name I've seen dozens of times in annuals. Lumley produced the very famous World War I recruitment poster "Daddy, What Did YOU Do In The War?" The story of how that poster came to be is related by Paul Gunn (extract found here):

One night my father came home very worried about the war situation and discussed with my mother whether he should volunteer. He happened to come in to where I was asleep and quite casually said to my mother, "If I don't join the forces whatever will I say to Paul if he turns round to me and says, "What did you do in the Great War, Daddy?" He suddenly turned round to my mother and said that would make a marvellous slogan for a recruiting poster. He shot off to see one of his pet artists, Savile Lumley, had a sketch drawn straight away, based on the theme projected about five years hence, although by the time it had taken shape the questioner had become one of my sisters. To end the story on a nice note, he joined the Westminster Volunteers a few days later!

The poster was commissioned by the British Parliamentary Recruiting Committee in 1915.

Little is known about Lumley and his career is generally dated c.1910-c.1950. I have seen 1950 given as his date of death but failed to find any record of his death between 1949-51.

Savile is a rare first name (although an occasional middle name); the only Savile Lumley I have been able to trace was born in Marylebone in 1876, the son of Henry Robert Lumley (c.1826- ), the proprietor of a newspaper, and his wife Blanche Day (nee Plum, c.1839-1913) who were married in 1863. Savile grew up in London and married in Lambeth in 1905. He may be related to Lord Savile, otherwise John Savile-Lumley (1816-1896) who was (to quote his obituary in The Times) "a man of wide culture and artistic tastes and had considerable talents as a draughtsman." Savile Lumley's brothers Lyulph (1867- ) and Osbert (1877- ) both went into journalism, the former as the editor of a court journal.

His earliest cartoons appeared in Sketchy Bits in the late 1890s and his work appeared in Tatler before the war and he also produced posters for railways. In the 1920s and 1930s he contributed heavily to children's magazines and annuals, including Boy's Own Paper, Champion Annual, Chatterbox, Chums, Little Folk, Nelson Lee Library, Printer’s Pie, Scout, Schoolfriend Annual, Schoolgirl’s Own Annual, Young England and elsewhere. Lumley also contributed picture stories to The Boys and Girls Daily Mail in around 1933. Cartoons appeared in The Humorist.

Friday, February 20, 2009

My recent trek through the pages of Look and Learn turned up a few interesting adverts from the pens of comic strip artists, Frank Bellamy, Larry Horak and Frank Langford.

The Bellamy is known to fans but this was the first time I'd seen it. I'm told by Norman Boyd (of the Frank Bellamy Checklist) that this appearance on 1 May 1971 predates the previously known first appearance.

The Horak advertises the latest in a long line of Brooke Bond picture card series, probably known to every person of a certain age in the UK. The little album shown in the advert was issued by Brooke Bond and children who grew up in the sixties and seventies would pester their mums to buy their tea so we (and I include myself here) could get the free cards that were slipped into every packet. By coincidence, I still have the History of Aviation album, not quite complete, that dates from 1972. Horak is, of course, better known as the artist of the James Bond newspaper strip, which he drew for about 12 years from 1966.

Frank Langford we've covered before, so you can see more examples of his adverts here and here, the latter link offering a little background information on the artist.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Bruce Windo is a mystery. He was a paperback cover artist who worked for Pan, Panther and Arrow Books in the 1950s and contributed articles on cars to Look and Learn in the late 1960s but, apart from the fact that he was born in Kent in 1920, I've been able to find nothing about him or his career.

Update: 31 January 2010A few more snippets have emerged. Windo was the son of Percy Carrington Windo. Percy was born in 1871 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of John Carrington Windo, and was married in 1895, aged 23, in Bristol to 28-year-old Emily Martin, daughter of Samuel Martin. Percy was a school master and the couple had three children: Doris Emily (b. Bath, Avon, Somerset, 1896; married Francis W. Whitton in 1920), Beatrice Carrie (b. Bath, Avon, Somerset, 1897; married George W. Whitton in 1921) and Gertrude Jeannie (b. Singleton, Sussex, 1901; married Reginald O. Melling in 1934) by the time of the 1901 census. At that time they were running Bay School, in Singleton, Sussex. Percy Eric Windo followed on 16 June 1902, born in Tendring, Essex.

Emily Windo died in Strood, Kent, in 1906 at the early age of 39, possibly giving birth of Reginald Oscar Windo who died at birth or shortly thereafter. Percy was remarried to Gertrude Mabel Melling in Strood, Kent, in 1908. Gertrude was born in Singleton, Sussex, in 1877, the daughter of Henry and Emily Melling, and had been living with the Windos at the time of the 1901 census.

Percy was head teacher of Meopham Primary School between 1902 and 1934; he was described as "very talented at handicrafts and drawing and the pupils craftwork reached a high standard," which may in part explain where his son Bruce's talents came from. Percy also served as Parish Clerk.

Percy died in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1955, aged 83. Gertrude died in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1968, aged 93.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Geoffrey William Backhouse was born 16 November 1903 and studied art at Heatherleys, subsequently working for Modern Art Studios. In 1927, he began drawing ‘Strongheart the Magnificent’ in Comic Life, the comic strip adventures of a magnificent German Shepherd modelled on a canine Hollywood film star. Strongheart continued his adventures when Comic Life was relaunched as My Favourite and would continue to appear, drawn by a number of different artists, until 1949.

Shortly before the war, Backhouse drew ‘The Stolen King’ for Comic Cuts and ‘Buffalo Bill’ for Butterfly. After the war, he illustrated a number of books for Collins including The Children’s Picture Dictionary (1951) and modern editions of Alice In Wonderland and Enid Blyton’s Shadow the Sheepdog.

Backhouse’s expertise at drawing animals and nature made him the perfect choice to draw a colourful feature strip starring George Cansdale for Eagle in 1954 and the adventures of ‘Tammy the Sheepdog’ for Swift (1955-58). Backhouse subsequently contributed many wildlife illustrations to Look and Learn and Treasure.

He lived at 16 Upper Tollington Park, London N.4, and died on 1 August 1978.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I stumbled across the following article while I was looking through issues of Look and Learn for a project I'm working on. I've no idea if any Gerry Anderson fans have spotted it before but I bet there are a few who haven't seen it. The article dates from 5 June 1965. Enjoy!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Long-time readers will know that Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History was written during last summer. Well, the book is out now and it looks fantastic, even if I say so myself.

My involvement came about because the original author was unable to do the book (I don't know the details but these things happen); the text was farmed out to a number of different writers and I got the opening couple of chapters—the longest two sections in the book—plus the introduction. As I was writing half the book (the other half being split between five other writers: Alex Sumersby, Steve White, Toby Weidmann, Adrian Faulkner and Tim Murray), I also got to write the introduction and get my name on the cover.

What was originally going to be two months work turned into three thanks to "real life" getting in the way of all my carefully laid plans, namely bits of the house being pulled down and rebuilt, all my reference books disappearing into storage and a constant flow of workmen through the house. One of the real problems was tracking down suitable images—this was, after all, a "graphic" history—and discovering that, when scans turned up, they were pretty dire. I'd say that a good half to three-quarters of the additional time I spent on the books was spent cleaning up pictures. (When I get a chance I'll dig out some of the original scans so you can compare them to the finished product in the book... they're on a hard drive that's buried somewhere in the office.)

I've had a chance to read the book and the whole thing hangs together amazingly well. The two chapters I wrote on SF art cover everything from 18th & 19th century illustration to the current crop of talented artists (Donato Giancola, Stephen Martiniere) via pulps, paperbacks and some incredible talents ranging from Frank R. Paul to Jim Burns and Frank Kelly Freas to Chris Foss. Other chapters cover comic books, concept art, cinema art and various other media, so Dan Dare gets to rub shoulders with David A. Hardy and H. R. Giger with the Halo XBox game, all under the same covers.

The cover, incidentally, is by that master of SF artistry, Vincent di Fate, whose Infinite Worlds was a real inspiration when I was writing up many of the artists. And the book has a thought provoking foreword by Brian Aldiss (who, once upon a time, also wrote a book about SF art called Science Fiction Art) which argues that the standardization of so much science fiction art has damaged the perception of SF, using the example of his novel Non-Stop: of the 20 or so paperback editions and translations, all but one features a spaceship on the cover; but the story takes place inside a spaceship amongst people who believe the ship is their world. Only one cover features a dramatic scene taken from the novel.

Me? I like spaceships. My biggest influence with regards to SF art was the artwork I saw each week as I scoured the shelves for new titles back in the mid- and late-1970s. This was the hey-day of Chris Foss and his followers and, no disrespect to these artists intended, the publishers clearly thought they were interchangeable. Their skilfully-drawn and beautifully air-brushed spacecraft were almost a brand, used willy-nilly on everything from E. E. 'Doc' Smith to Philip K. Dick. They were rarely a window illuminating the contents of the books and, if you weren't careful, you might pick up a Perry Rhodan and miss the latest Robert Silverberg.

On the other hand, I believe those covers opened up quite a few new worlds for me personally. I read an awful lot of SF (nothing but SF, in fact, for about eight years) and the spaceship "brand" led me to authors as diverse as Jack Williamson and Samuel R. Delaney. I didn't distinguish between thirties pulp and classy literature and non-specific covers that grabbed my attention meant that I read a great many more authors and a far broader range of science fiction than I might have done otherwise. (My argument falls down on one point: it meant I read a lot of crap, too. But I was a quick reader so my disappointment was soon dispelled by the next good book and I had an excellent memory for names to avoid.)

Odd that I should be praising uniformity while I'm talking about a book that celebrates the diversity of SF art! I don't think there has been a book out on the subject with this breadth before. Seriously, get yourself a copy of this book and let me know what you think.

The son of a Scottish laird, Richard Alexander Steuart Gordon was born in Banff, Scotland, on 18 May 1947. As the eldest son, he was expected to take the title on his father's death but refused. Rich Gordon was a member of the BSFA in the early 1960s and his first stories appeared (as by Richard A. Gordon, to distinguish himself from Richard Gordon, the pen-name under which Gordon Ostlere wrote the Doctor novels) in New Worlds and Science Fantasy in 1965. He also sold two stories to Vision of Tomorrow.

His first novel, The Bikers, was published under the pen-name Alex Stuart to further distance him from Richard Gordon, although the byline became Alex R. Stuart on later books after complaints from Violet Vivian Stuart, who wrote historical novels as Alex Stuart. (Gordon's subsequent use of Stuart Gordon as a pen-name has also required bibliographers to note that he is not to be confused with Stuart Gordon the film director, the two being born the same year.)

The Bikers was the first of a series of novels inspired by stories of Hell's Angels and exploited by New English Library following the highly successful reprinting of The Black Leather Barbarians by Pat Stadley and Freewheelin' Frank by Frank Reynolds in 1969; Alex R. Stuart was used as a byline on four further novels, two of which were sequels to The Bikers, featuring a hook-handed outlaw biker called Little Billy, and two further novels featuring 'the devil's biker'.

As Stuart Gordon, he wrote a number of science fiction novels, starting with Time Story, published by New English Library in 1972. One-Eye, Two-Eyes and Three-Eyes was a post-holocaust trilogy, followed by a second trilogy, the 'Watchers' (Archon, The Hidden World and The Mask), involving time travel between medieval and near future eras. Stuart said of his books, "The label 'science fiction' is used to cover many different approaches to storytelling, most of which have little to do with 'science' as such, save in a romantic, generalized way. The thrust of my own work has typically been occult or mythic in its main concern, and can be defined as science fiction only insofar as it has been characterized (I hope) by that 'sense of wonder' which romantically typifies the genre as a whole." His interest in the occult and myths resulted in a number of books on the paranormal under the Stuart Gordon byline.

Gordon lived for some years in a commune in Wales. In the late 1990s, under his own name, he wrote a number of well-illustrated travel books relating the history of areas of Scotland.

In 2005 he began teaching at the Shanghai High School. His death was the result of a heart attack at the Lianhua Road Subway Station in Shanghai.

Non-fiction as Stuart GordonDown the Drain: Water, Pollution and Privatisation, with Jennie Smith. London, Optima, 1989.The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. London, Headline, 1992.The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends. London, Headline, 1993.The Book of Curses: True tales of Voodoo, Hoodoo and Hex. London, Headline, 1994; as The Book of Spells, Hexes and Curses: True tales from around the world,Secaucus, N.J., Carol Pub. Group, 1995.The Book of Hoaxes: An A-Z of famous fakes, frauds and cons. London, Headline, 1995.The Book of Miracles: From Lazarus to Lourdes. London, Headline, 1996.

Non-fiction as Richard GordonRound Inverness, the Black Isle and Naim. Walks and history. Buckie, Boar's Head Press, 1998.Round Moray, Badenoch and Straphspey. Walks and history. Buckie, Boar's Head Press, 1999.Round Aberdeen, from Deeside to the Deveron. Walks and history. Buckie, Boar's Head, 2000.

Note:Gordon's Contemporary Authors entry (probably the source of his Wikipedia entry) lists a fourth novel in the 'Watchers' series, Eye in the Stone (Macdonald, 1990), although the book, if written, was never published.

One of the many unknown names who contributed to British comics, Laurence Houghton was probably better known as an illustrator—although nowadays he's equally obscure in that field, too. A shame, because he was an excellent artist. He contributed to Swift Annual, Schoolgirls Picture Library and Princess Picture Library, and contributed to both Girl (1962-64) and Princess (1962-67).

Beyond his contributions to Everybody's (and almost certainly various women's papers), little else is known about his career. I mentioned him to David Roach who recalls that he also did covers for Mills & Boon.

Despite a long search for Houghton, the only plausible suspect is one Laurence John C. Houghton, born at Hitching on 24 August 1913, who lived for many years at 49 Argyle Road, London W.13 [1951/84] and died in 1988, aged 74. Unfortunately, I've no way of confirming.

(* Illustrations (c) IPC Media. The last, piece of original artwork from the strip "Castle in the Mist" (Princess), recently appeared on eBay.)

Friday, February 13, 2009

For our third episode of "Mysterious Tales of Romance Writers" we present...

Louise Heilgers. Again, I have to thank John Herrington for getting this one started, as it was he who did the initial research.

"According to the 1911 census, this seems to be Louise Helene Henrieth Heilgers, aged 28 and described as an author, living with her mother in Fulham," says John. "I found her birth on FreeBMD which is 1882 and lists her as Louise Henriette Heilgers. I assume Henriette is correct—I haven't subscribed so cannot see original document. She married in 1919—as Louise H. H. Heilgers. But the groom is odd: he is listed as both Charles Hosken and Charles Granville. Also a Louise Heilgers is born in Fulham in 1913—mother's maiden name given as Heilgers. Since Louise Heilgers was in Fulham in 1911, seems likely this is her child."

Potentially there's lots of fun to be had here.

First thing that strikes me is that Heilgers is a very uncommon name and a quick dig around the internet showed that one Frederick William Heilgers ran a successful shipping business between London, Calcutta and Australia. They get a brief mention in Montague Massey's Recollections of Calcutta for over Half a Century...

F.W. Heilgers & Co., in the far distant past, were known as Wattenbach Heilgers & Co. When I first remember them they had their offices in an old building occupying the site of Balmer Lawrie & Co's handsome new premises, after which they removed to 136, Canning Street, where they remained for a very great number of years, until the Chartered Bank of India, etc., built their present offices when they took over and rented the whole of the second floor.

In the 1850s, Wattenbach, Heilgers & Co. commissioned Rickmers to build three cargo ships, the Winterthur (1853), Ida Ziegler (1854) and Augustus Wattenbach (1855). They also had interests in jute mills in Calcutta. Augustus Wattenbach eventually left the partnership in 1872. Frederick William Heilgers also became a director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and Chine.

When Frederick William Heilgers died on 15 February 1885, he left over £100,000. The company then passed to William Heilgers and Robert Philip Heilgers who had previously been partners in F. W. Heilgers & Co. The business was subsequently taken over by Alexander Frederick Heilgers, who later became sole head of the firm when Robert Philip Heilgers (c.1855-1922) retired in April 1894. It would appear that the Heilgers family's last connection with the firm ended in 1917 when Frank Julius Frederick Alexander Heilgers (at the time a Lieutenant in the army) ended his part in the partnership that ran the firms based in Calcutta and London.

The one easily noticeable thing about Louise Heilgers is that she doesn't seem to appear in any of the UK census records until 1911. Indeed, the Heilgers' barely appear on any of the census returns. To take a quick sampling in the 1881 census we find only two families:

In 1871, Robert can be found as a scholar at Brighton College and, in 1891, Helene Heilgers is widowed but still living in Camberwell. But other than that, no more Heilgers. It seems almost certain that they must have spent much of their time abroad, almost certainly in India

Frederick William Heilgers (c.1815-1885) and his wife Helene Amalie Gesina Heilgers (c.1829-1894) had a son, Adolphus Augustus William Heilgers, born 19 Nov. 1848 in Calcutta, India. At least three more followed:

Frank Fehrman Heilgers (born 26 March 1869. He died of typhoid fever at Cannes on 2 April 1890, aged 21.)

A daughter was still born on 31 Dec. 1870. It would appear that the family continued to expand, although I've not been able to confirm the parentage of the following births, all of which were recorded in Camberwell:

Frederick William Heilgers (1879)

Elizabeth Helene L. Heilgers (1881)

Louise Henriette Heilgers (1882)

Helena Lisette F. Heilgers (1884)

The family tree is further complicated at a later date, especially shortly after the First World War when, with feelings running high against Germans, a number of people with the surname Heilgers began changing their names by deed. A few I have been able to trace are: Gladys Verena Louisa Heilgers changed her name to Hillyers in 1917; Reginald Fehrmann Heilgers changed his name to Hillyers in 1918; Frederick William Heilgers changed his name to Hillyers in 1919; and Norah Heilgers changed her name to Chater in 1924.

Even so, for such a large family with important business connections, the Heilgers seem to have left remarkably little trace of themselves across the internet. Robert Heilgers was a consul in Calcutta from around 1885 (although would appear to have later been sued by Henry William Crane, a publisher, in 1896; his address at that time was formerly 24 St. James's-square, London, but his "present residence the Judgment Creditor is unable to ascertain"). I don't know if this is Robert Phillip Heilgers.

Let's get back to Louise Helene Henrietta Heilgers, because I'm likely to be going off at another tangent in the not too distant future. As was previously mentioned, she does not show up on census records until 1911, so confirming her family background is almost impossible. However, is has now been confirmed that she was the daughter of Robert Philip Heilgers (1855-1922) and his French-born wife Josephine Louise (nee Bertrand, 1860-1935).

Louise Heilgers was a popular author, contributing stories and articles to Punch, The Bystander, Sketch, Blue Magazine, Novel Magazine, Eve, Royal Magazine, and others. She was a contributor to the Sunday Herald, where she published a series of war stories that, I believe, were reprinted as Somewhere in France. Her earlier collection, Tabloid Tales, was favourably reviewed in The Equinox (v1 #8):

To quote the preface of Horatio Bottomley, "Louise Heilgers is the only female writer of short stories of the present day." She is in truth one of the ten million, her heart is their heart, her mind is their mind, and consequently her thoughts are thier thoughts. She will soon be acclaimed as a popular author. It is refreshing indeed to find somebody writing direct from the heart without in any way striving after originality. Excepting as to their length, these stories do not in any manner resemble those of Baudelaire.

The latter non-fiction title was the result of another string Louise Heilgers added to her bow. The Louise Heilgers Correspondence College Ltd. was based at Parkshot House, Richmond, Surrey and advertised in various newspapers. The following adverts from 1921 is typical:

LEARN WHILE YOU PLAY.—One 5s. P.O. will bring you "STORYTELLING" designed by Louise Heilgers, which is two things in one. (1) The most amusing of indoor games. (2) The finest lessons ever given in story-telling, and worth guineas to you. £105 are offered to players of "Storytelling." Conditions of the Competition are sent with every set. Send your 5s. Order to-day.—The LOUISE HEILGERS CORRESPONDENCE COLLEGE Ltd., Richmond, Surrey.

The company went into voluntary liquidation and began winding up in January 1922 and was eventually struck off the company's register in March 1925. Not that the closure of the Correspondence College stopped Heilgers as she continued to advertise herself in newspapers (e.g. The Times, 1 February 1923):

ADD to INCOME by writing for the Press and Magazines. Personal tuition by Louise Heilgers. Apply L.H.C.C. Ltd., 7 Parkshot, Richmond, Surrey.

The L.H.C.C. also published its own magazine: The Louise Heilgers Magazine ran for six issues between September 1920 and February 1921 before being relaunched as The Writer in March 1921, although with issue 5 it was taken over and published by Hutchinson & Co. in London.

Louise Heilgers was chairman of the L.H.C.C. under her married name of Louise Granville, which is where a twist is added to our story. In May 1919, Mrs. Charlotte Mary Hosken sued for a divorce from her husband, journalist Charles Hosken, on the grounds of his desertion and adultery with Louise Heilgers. Hosken was also known as Charles Granville, under which name he had written a number of novels.

Charlotte Mary Hosken (nee Taylor) had married Charles Hosken at Helston Parish Church, Cornwall, on 5 October 1892 and the couple had one child, a boy, who was killed in action in 1917. She had lived with her husband after marriage in Cornwall and various places abroad. In 1907, when they were in Germany, he had deserted her and had, she said, never since contributed to her support.

Charlotte had been living in Brussels in 1915 at the time of the German occupation and had escaped to England early that year to find that her husband was living in Hurlingham Court Mansions, Fulham, with Louise Heilgers. Mrs. Hosken only sued for divorce four years later when she produced a certificate recording the birth of twin daughters on 28 February 1918 (Elizabeth M. Granville and Mary D. L. Granville, born in Fulham) on which the father's name was given as Charles Granville. The two were living together as man and wife—the mother's name given as Louise Helen Henriette Granville. Although not mentioned, a daughter, Dorothy E. L. D. Heilgers, had been born in 2Q 1913, although her birth was not registered until 3Q 1915; the birth was cross-referenced under both Heilgers and Granville.

Not surprisingly, the judge granted Charlotte Mary Hosken a decree nisi, with costs.

This was not the first time that Hosken had been in court over his marriage. Or, rather, marriages, because he was a serial bigamist.

The story starts in 1912 when an author and publisher by the name of Charles Granville, of Waltham House, Epsom, was charged on remand at Bow Street with fraudulently converting to his own use the proceeds of a cheque for £1,500 entrusted to him by Mr. Richard Johnson Walker, editor and proprietor of the Oxford and Cambridge Review. In early 1912, Walker became acquainted with Granville through his connections with Stephen Swift Company Ltd. and agreed to buy 3,000 £1 shares in a new company that was being formed, Swift Press Ltd. The first half of the transaction went through without any problems in early September and the company was duly registered on 30 September. On that day, Walker gave Granville a cheque for the second half of the money due, which Granville promptly paid into his own account.

The following morning, he withdrew £1,400 in cash. On 2 October, Granville departed from the Hotel Victoria, where he had been staying since 10 August, and—accompanied by a lady who was purportedly his wife—fled abroad. In Spain he had taken the name of Godwin and had travelled to Tangier where he was eventually arrested on 28 October; £1,200 was recovered. Granville's own private accounts on 30 September was overdrawn to the extent of £677 19s. 11d. and £163 11s. 5d. and that of Stephen Swift & Co. overdrawn by £1,309 5s. 9d. The cheque Granville paid his hotel bill with bounced.

By now it was known that "Charles Granville" was actually an author and publisher by the name of Charles Hosken, who had been in bankruptcy since 2 May 1898 and had never secured a discharge. A number of further outstanding warrants were added to the charges against Hosken: of obtaining £20 by false pretences from Emily Esther Parker at Porchester Square, Paddington on 7 November 1905; of feloniously intermarrying Mrs. Parker at Paddington Registry Office on 18 November 1905; and of feloniously intermarrying Mrs. Caroline Leontine Fawcett at Edinburgh on 3 November 1908. His lawful wife, Charlotte Mary Hosken, as we have seen, was very much still alive and remained with him until he "deserted" her in 1907 (although, as we shall see, he continued to forward money to her until at least 1912; how aware Mrs. Hosken was of her husband's activities we will never know).

Between December 1904 and November 1905, Charles and Charlotte Hosken had been living in lodgings at Seymour Place; after some time their son, aged 10 or 11, joined them. The couple left without notice, owing the landlady, Mrs. Ada Elizabeth Carter, £15. She had been told by Hosken that he was a clerk in a solicitor's office in Westminster. However, under the name Henry Charos James, Hosken was the principal of the Rapid Language College in Great Quebec Street. It was here that the recently widowed Mrs. Parker came to learn French. She had a few resident pupils at her house in Porchester Square and "James" suggested that they should combine their businesses. James proposed marriage and subsequently began borrowing sums of money; she also paid the license fees for their marriage. The marriage took place on 18 November 1905, after which "James" went to lie down; around 2 o'clock that afternoon, he borrowed 10s. from his new wife, left the house and did not return. The newly married "Mrs. James" then visited the lodging house where Hosken was living, but saw no one except the woman she now knew to be Mrs. Hosken.

Hosken subsequently, as Charles Granville, litterateur and widower, married Mrs. Caroline Leontine Fawcett at Portobello near Edinburgh. The new Mrs. Granville claimed that her husband was devoted to literature and the best man that anybody could wish to know; she had been uncertain about marriage but had been persuaded by her parents after she had announced that she intended living with "Granville". She had lived with him until August 1912 and would stick by him; indeed, she had posted bail for him when he was brought back from Tangier. Since 1908, she had advanced him some £3,000 for his business and, she said, she would have given him as much as he liked to ask for if she had it.

The real Mrs. Hosken, meanwhile, had last been seen by her father in February 1912 and he understood her to be "somewhere on the Continent" and making a living by giving lessons in English. According to her letters, Hosken was providing her with money.

The various cases dragged on and yet another indictment was added, charging Hosken with obtaining £2,000 from actor, journalist and playwright Mr. Joseph Edward Harold Terry by false pretences. The case was livened up one day in early July when an elderly spectator inadvertently wandered into the jury box when trying to find his seat, leading one of the prosecuting councils to joke that "The 13th juryman is on the Bench I always understood." "I hope not," replied one of the councils for the defence.

Eventually, on Friday, 4 July 1913, the trial ended. Hosken was found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to six months hard labour, both sentences to run concurrently, on the bigamy charges; on the other charges he was sentenced to fifteen months hard labour, the whole of the sentences to run concurrently.

The birth of Dorothy E. L. D. Heilgers shortly before Hosken was sentenced suggests strongly that the "young lady" with whom Hosken (as Granville and then Godwin) had fled to Tangier was, in fact, Louise Heilgers and that the two had been living together as Mr. and Mrs. Granville at least as early as 1912.

Their relationship continued after Hosken was released from jail. The two married in 1919 and, with Louise Granville as chairman, the Louise Heilgers Correspondence College was set up. The company was registered on 14 September 1920 and, as previously mentioned, began winding up in January 1922. A new company, Louise Heilgers Correspondence Courses Ltd. was registered on 1 February 1922.

Louise Granville eventually petitioned for a divorce from Charles Granville in 1928. She was still only about 46 but vanishes from the literary world as far as I can see.

Louise Granville died on 28 October 1954 in Eastborne, her death registered as
Louise Granville, with no middle initials, hence earlier problems
tracing her death. Her age was given as 61, but probate records confirm it is Louise Helen (sic) Henriette Granville. She was actually 71. A Dorothy E. Granville married in 2Q 1930 to a Mr. Smith in Hackney and Mary died, unmarried, in 1992, aged 74.

Charles Hosken, born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1867, the son of William H. Hosken (an iron founder) and his wife Martha, also disappeared. Mind you, with so many different aliases that might be no surprise. From the 1890s on he was most commonly known as Charles Granville. It was under this name that shipping records noted his return from Gibraltar to London on 7 December 1912 in the custody of Detective Sergeant Cole and Detective Crawley.

Granville was a contributor to such magazines as Western Review and New Age and his novels were, in their time, well regarded. I rather think that one title—The Indissoluble Knot—rather summed up his life.

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